21 Gun Salute to the Warriors of 2020 -Year in Review #20 [Countdown #1]

21 Gun Salute to the Warriors of 2020

I started off this 20 post Year in Review series 20 days ago and today we are at post #20. The master post did not have a number, so technically this is the 21st post of the series. So, let us end the year and give a 21 gun salute to the warriors of 2020. Let us welcome the upcoming 2021 with new hopes and aspirations. In the last 4 posts, we have been doing the final countdown to 2021. We have been comparing the 20 thoughts from 2020 that I wrote in Jan 2020 (‘opening note’) with the events during the year.

A closing note about the opening thoughts

I have already covered 4 thoughts each in the previous 4 countdown posts from the ‘opening note’. This leaves us with the final 4 thoughts from the beginning of 2020 to be compared with events during 2020. These thoughts relate to milestones and videos (#3,4), 40s being the new 20’s (#20) and finally, New Year Resolutions (#1). Let us look at each one of them.

Public Goals and Targets

I had outlined a very specific target in the opening note(#3), shortly after launching my YouTube channel. The plan was to release 12 videos – 1 for each month of the year. I just counted that I have added exactly 12 videos during 2020 to my channel!

This makes me realize that the chances of achieving your goals increase significantly if you make them public. Of course, this needs to be followed through by action. However, the likelihood of taking action increases if the intent and target is made public.

So, this New Year, take that extra step and make your New Year Resolutions public! Many people may think that in a year as crazy as 2020, nothing could have gone according to plan. If you have been following the last 4 ‘countdown’ posts in this series, you will surely have a different opinion.

The Virtuous Feedback Loop

I had earlier created a video containing eightrospections (8 introspections) on the occasion of my 8th work anniversary as CEO. Some people gave me feedback that I should do a voice over or appear more frequently in my videos. I did mention this in #4 of my ‘opening note’. Once again, since I made this public, I managed to meet the objective. I did appear in 11 out of the 12 videos that I uploaded this year.

Gratitude to those who shared positive and constructive feedback that prompted me to take required action. I count my blessings, since this does not happen very frequently on social media. In another instance during the year, the comments on a YouTube video prompted me to write a post. Check out the Curious Case of Comments on TIME magazine’s video of the Kid of The Year, Gitanjali Rao.

If you read the above post related to Gitanjali Rao, you will appreciate the point much more. The lessons relating to positive thinking and constructive communication are so important in a year like 2020. It amazes me that we can get sucked into a negative spiral, even after listening to such inspirational stories. We can inflict a lot of needless harm upon ourselves in these times if we fall prey to such negative thoughts.

I leave it up to you to introspect on how you react to the events around you and the mindset you adopt.

2020 and the 40’s

This leaves us with only 2 more thoughts from 2020 – the first and the last from my opening note. In my closing thought of the opening note (#20), I had mentioned about 40’s being the new 20’s. I had referred to a study by MIT, published in Harvard Business Review that indicated that the average age of a successful startup founder is 45.

In case you are wondering about the relevance, this year, I turned 45 and my wife is in a similar age bracket. I cannot disclose a lady’s age, as per traditions! This year, we saw our brainchild From The Experts’ Mouth taking shape. My journey on this platform has got off to a dream start, with the master post of this Year In Review series showing up as the 1st search result on Google for ‘experts year in review’, ahead of more than a billion pages. Gratitude to the readers, whose engagement and encouragement prompted me to continue sharing my insights and experiences with the same intensity throughout the journey.

I am sure, you will continue doing your best to validate the results of the above mentioned study by MIT. I, for one, will continue to play my part to prove that 40’s are the new 20’s!

New Year Resolutions

And doing our bit, brings us to the last of the thoughts from my opening note (#1) – New Year Resolutions. I wrote about my time management framework, TRIGGER, in the opening note last year and how it has helped me maintain the discipline and rigor of daily and weekly reviews.

Although, I have not yet written about the TRIGGER framework, that I created 7 years ago, a few related aspects are worth noting. Firstly, the most crucial aspect of TRIGGER, is the last alphabet denoting Risk Management. In 2020, we all saw the importance of managing risks well. We also saw the disastrous consequences that could befall upon us, if risks are not managed properly. I have shared my thoughts on Risks on several occasions during the year, including a keynote address at a CXO event on Governance, Risk and Compliance. In fact, the first post of the series started with Black Swan and White – a commentary on risks.

2020 – A Quick Re-cap of the Year in Review

It is a fitting way to bid adieu to 2020, with the opening post of the series and the closing thought of the series, being about Risk. I hope you take the hint and manage risks better in 2021. Most of us have had a journey of a lifetime in 2020 and I have certainly never written such a comprehensive review of anything in my life so far!

After starting off with Risk and distinguishing between Black Swan and White, we accelerated with digital transformation, before acing digital with a framework. We then moved to the softer side learning how to stay positive and productive, with a pitstop approach. This could not have been done without keeping an internal locus of control, so that we did not lose momentum.

As things became tense, we took a funny and zoomorous look at how Zoom and video calls became a part of our lives. Our attention then turned to children and whether they should code or not and also on the reality of AI for kids.

The second half of the series commenced with some thoughts on Customer Experience and Citizen Developers. Remote working was one of the most significant changes at work and we examined how to engage remote workforce and also how to have fun with families remotely. And, of course, since health and safety was the topmost priority globally, we spoke about having SUPER physical and mental health.

The Final Countdown

In the last segment, we took some brave steps and compared the 20 thoughts for 2020 that I had written in January with the events during the year, as a final countdown. We reviewed the journey and milestones and the digital tsunami in 2020. Finally, I wrote about the Top 10 things to know about AI and followed it up with the counter-balancing forces of humanity going back to our roots in the previous post, Back to the Future.

I hope the above summary helps you connect the dots and put the year 2020 and the Year in Review into perspective. Now, that we are done with 20 points for 2020, it is time to turn our attention to 2021, with a 21 gun salute.

21 Gun Salute to the Warriors of 2020

As the year comes to an end, I extend a 21 Gun Salute to the warriors of 2020. So many of us braved their lives, either to protect their livelihood or to keep the world running or to protect lives of others. It will be futile if I even start naming the segments of the population that I owe my gratitude to. And, our hearts go out to those who risked everything just to make ends meet. And for each such person that we can think of, there are probably 21 others enabling their fellow citizens. All these warriors, deserve highest honor and praise in the wake of the most trying circumstances of our lives.

For once, we all have a shared understanding that we are all in it together. On that note, let us all together, wish each other a blissful 2021 with a 21 gun salute to all of us – a strong and determined global community.

Happy New Year 2021 to one and all!

About The Author

Rajiv Maheshwari is a business and start-up advisor, and the co-founder of From The Experts Mouth. He is a management professional with over 25 years of experience, and worked as CEO for a decade, and in leadership roles with NYSE listed companies such as Accenture and WNS.

He is a Chartered Accountant and MBA (Director’s Merit List from IIM Bangalore) and an autodidact, who is on the path of self-directed life long learning and sharing. He is a thought leader, author and keynote speaker and has developed several frameworks to bridge the gap between academia and industry.